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Chapter Twenty-Four - I Hate South Dakota

Plaything

Title: I Hate South Dakota (24/??)
Author: tumbling_down & so_jayded
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1000
Genre: Hancest
Note: This is a ridiculously short chapter. :(




Jodi

"I just can't take this anymore," I groaned, flopping onto the couch next to Nancy. "I'm too excited about the trip and it's not for another four fucking days."

"I know," Nancy said in her whiny voice. "I just want to go."

It was Monday and we were going a little stir crazy. There had been so many sightings of the boys lately and we were so worried that the reason Taylor and Zac were spending so much time out of the house with their friends and shopping was because the three of them were planning on leaving soon. We could not handle them being out of town when we were in Tulsa again. It was just not an option.

"Should we just go?" I asked her. "I mean, I've got maybe two appointments scheduled but no comebacks. There's no reason someone else can't take them."

"And I don't think I really have anything scheduled," she shrugged.

"And we totally have enough money to stay for some extra days."

"I'm already packed," she informed me. "I'd just need to bring another duffel or something with some extra clothes."

"Me, too," I admitted, sitting up straighter. "We could probably leave in, like, two or three hours."

I watched her glance at the clock and nod. "We'd get there at eight or nine in the morning," she said. "We'd be pretty fucking tired but doesn't Zac always go down to get the paper at, like, eight thirty or something?"

"I think so."

She bounced her feet on the floor for a few seconds before she turned to me, looking insanely excited and grinned. "Should we?"

"I think we should," I nodded.

* * * * * * * * * *

We were packed up and ready to leave by 7:00 because we were so excited to get on with our trip. We called our employees and left them instructions, and then we climbed into our car and headed east. The drive would take at least ten and a half hours, but that was half the fun. Road trips are seriously one of mine and Nancy's favorite things to do in the world. It gives us time to just sit back and talk without any interruptions - like bills and business and family and friends - and it's just fun to see different places and have the road wide open in front of you.

Jodi took the first shift to drive since she had woken up at least four hours after I had that morning. She popped a Hanson mix CD into the player and I got comfortable with my Hanson quilt and my pillow in the passenger seat. "I'll try to nap for, like, a couple hours so that I can stay up once it gets totally dark out, okay?"

"Mmhmm. I'll wake you up if I need to," she said, turning the volume up a little bit.

"And seriously don't go five over the speed limit," I warned her, inserting ear plugs into my ears. "If you get another ticket, I'm going to be so not pleased with you."

She glared at me but gave me a sharp nod. "Whatever."

"Cruise control is your friend," I told her sweetly, patting her shoulder.

* * * * * * * * * *

Nancy

I let Jodi sleep for the first four hours of the trip and, frankly, I was surprised she slept the whole time. She usually only slept for an hour or two at a time while we were out on these trips, but we hadn't exactly planned for this and rested up properly. She woke up on the stretch of I-70 that went on for like, five hundred miles without a break.

"How long have I been out?" she asked groggily after she'd pulled out her earplugs and struggled to sit up straight.

I dialed down the speed a little. "Around four hours," I told her. "We're a little under half way there."

She looked at me suspiciously. "How did you do that in four hours?"

I shrugged. "Shortcut."

"You sped!"

I made a face. "It's not like I got stopped. It's no big deal."

She sighed and turned the music down. "So you cut it down to like, eight, nine hours? How fast were you going?"

"Like ninety or a hundred. We're in Kansas."

Jodi groaned and pushed the blanket off of her. "Kansas is the lamest state ever."

"For sure," I replied. "Except for Montana, maybe. Or South Dakota. Do you remember the hellish drive through South Dakota in like, oh-five?"

She nodded as she flipped through the CD booklet we kept in the car and pulled out This Time Around. "Yes. We're never going through South Dakota again."

I chuckled and pulled off at a service station to get gas. "D'you wanna switch? My eyes are feeling a little tired."

She nodded and we stopped. "Should we grab dinner? I mean, we're ahead of time and truck stop restaurants always have the best food."

We parked in front of the truck stop and I stubbed out my cigarette as we went inside. A quick walk around left us with chips and Red Bull, plus a bag of cherry nibs. Afterward, we grabbed a quick late-night breakfast at the resaurant inside.

We filled up and started back on the road. It was almost midnight by the time we pulled back onto the highway, and we still had six hours to go if Jodi was going to be driving. "Want me to stay up?" I asked her.

She shook her head. "Nap if you want. I'll wake you up if I need it."

I nodded and curled up under my blanket, resting my head against the window and humming along to Runaway Run as Jodi started to put more miles between Boulder and our car. It took me a long time to drift to sleep because I was too busy thinking about waking up to the Tulsa skyline, seeing Zac get the paper from the store across from their apartment in his sweatpants and sandals, maybe catching Taylor on his daily Starbucks trip... It was all so exciting, and we were going to have six days instead of two in Tulsa.

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